Today, it is too easy to sacrifice children to whatever god we truly worship, whether it be greed or pride or fear. It is also politicians and zealots who sacrifice young men and women in senseless wars who ignore the deaths of children when they drop their bombs or blow themselves up. It is not just the insane or the evil who justify their crimes with stories such as this. There are those who hear voices in their heads urging them to imitate Abraham or Jephtha and kill their children. Now that I am older and know more about the evil of the world, I am wary when I speak on passages like Genesis 22. I know that you have at times cried when you learned of the death of a child that was caused by a parentвЂ™s neglect, anger, abuse, or insanity. All you have to do is read the newspapers to know what parents are capable of. I find it harder to preach on this text than I did when I was a younger man. All powerful things, including the Bible, can be destructive if used carelessly. You have probably heard this story before, maybe even in Sunday School, but it can be a dangerous story if mishandled. Perhaps, like Kierkegaard, will find that that true faith lies on the other side of despair.Д¬hild Sacrifice: In Genesis 22, God demands that Abraham offer his son Isaac as a burnt sacrifice. He who is to deliver the discourse can very well sleep till a quarter of an hour before he has to preach, the auditor can well take a nap during the discourse, for all goes smoothly, without the least trouble from any quarter.вЂќ Being mindful of KierkegaardвЂ™s admonition, today we will take the slow road to Moriah, and we will find that the path is dreadful. вЂњOne mounts a winged horse, the same instant one is at Mount Moriah, the same instant one sees the ram one forgets that Abraham rode only upon an ass, which walks slowly along the road, that he had a journey of three days, that he needed some time to cleave the wood, to bind Isaac, and to sharpen the knife. Kierkegaard warned about the tendency of pastors to preach this text too easily, too quickly. Before reading Genesis 22, I want to share with you some thoughts from Soren KierkegaardвЂ™s work Fear and Trembling (p. IвЂ™m teaching on this tomorrow at Central Moravian.ДЄdult Bible Class of Home Moravian Church, originally broadcast April 9, 2006ДЇear and Trembling: This week we are turning our attention to a story that has traditionally been seen as prefiguring or fore-shadowing of the Easter story. IвЂ™m reposting a lesson for this Sunday that I did several years ago.

The binding of isaac heretic